Serenade
by Hatsu Gekkani
Summary: It's time for the annual Military Spring Ball and Winry and the Elric brothers have all been invited. But as the night's events unfold, Ed realizes that something has changed... or did he just never notice it before? EdWin


"Damn that Colonel!" Ed muttered as he fixed the cuff of his sleeve. "Making us go to this stupid party. I hate wearing a tie!"

Al laughed as he watched his brother fumble with the buttons on his jacket. "He wouldn't be making you go if you hadn't made such a big deal about it."

"Well, it's a stupid idea!" Ed snapped. 

It wasn't too long ago that Colonel Mustang had "invited" the Elric brothers to the Military Spring Ball. In truth, he hadn't left them any choice in the matter, seeing as how it was an excellent opportunity to mess with Ed, one of his favorite hobbies.

_"You need to loosen up, Fullmetal," he jeered._

_"I'm not going! How about you act your age? You're supposed to be an adult!"_

_"An adult knows when it's time to let loose and have a little fun," Mustang noted. "Besides," he added smugly. "You might actually get a chance to dance with a girl."_

_"WHAT!"_

_He laughed. "But then again, I don't see why any girl would want to dance with somebody when they can see over the top of his head."_

_"WHY YOU!"-_

Al sighed and shook his head. "Winry's coming too, right?"

"Yeah, she was begging me to let her come," Ed answered lazily. "She got all starry-eyed about 'going to a big city party.'" He rolled his eyes. "She gets excited about the weirdest things sometimes."

For the past few days, Winry and Aunt Pinako had been visiting from Resembool, thinking it was as good a time as any to see what the two brothers had been up to in Central. It was only natural that Winry would hear about the ball.

He finished putting on his gloves and hooked his silver pocket watch onto his belt loop. "Come on, let's get this over with." He turned and walked out of the room, closely followed by Al.

As he walked down the hotel stairs, Ed called back to the Rockbells' room. "We're heading out, Gran."

Pinako opened her door and quickly followed them to the foot of the stairs. When she saw them, she frowned. "Alphonse Elric, you're not going like that!"

"W-what?" Al stammered.

She raised her eyebrow. "_'Formal attire required'_ I believe is what the invitation said."

"You can't be serious," Ed scoffed.

Pinako held out a large black tie. "Having armor doesn't mean you're exempt from the rules." She pulled up a chair and climbed up onto it. "Now hold still!"

"Y-yes, ma'am," Al sighed. He glanced at Ed who was chuckling on the stairs, while Pinako tightened the knot.

"There you go," she smiled.

Al turned to Ed with his head hung low. Ed put his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. "Looks good, Al," he snickered.

"Well, Ed," Pinako smirked. "Can't say I can remember the last time I saw you all dressed up." Ed just shrugged his shoulders and rested his arms on his knees. Pinako leaned closer to him and squinted her eyes. "Hmm…"

Ed jerked his head back. "What?"

"Funny, that suit seems to make you look smaller."

"Er-" Al backed away as Ed jumped to his feet.

"WHO YOU CALLING SHORT, YOU PINT-SIZED OLD BAT!"

"Is that how you talk to me, you little brat!"

"LITTLE! YOU DA-" He was cut off at the sight of a silver glint in the corner of his eye. Before he even had time to turn around, he'd been smashed in the back of the head with a wrench and knocked to the floor.

"Would you shut up already!" Winry yelled from upstairs.

Ed got to his feet rubbing his head. "Ugh! What the hell was that for!" He whirled around to face her, but stopped dead in his tracks when he looked up the stairs.

Winry was looking down at them wearing a deep blue halter-top dress and dangling silver earrings. Her hair was put up in a loose bun and she smiled shyly as they all looked up at her.

As she walked down the stairs, Pinako smiled. "You look lovely, dear."

"Thanks." A tinge of pink lit up Winry's cheeks. Ed and Al stood staring in awe. "Well, we should get going. I don't want to be late." She pranced over to the front door, her high-heels clicking rhythmically against the wood flooring. "Come on, you guys!" she laughed.

"Okay." Al followed her out the door, but Ed stood watching them from behind.

Pinako grinned. "She's a lot taller than you with those shoes on."

"Uh… yeah…" Ed breathed.

Pinako looked up at him through her round spectacles with her eyebrow raised. Her mouth moved into a small smirk and she chuckled quietly to herself.

"Brother! We're leaving!" Al called.

Ed rubbed his forehead. "Y-yeah! Coming!" He ran out the door and climbed into the car that Lieutenant Havoc had brought to take them to the ball.

While he drove, Havoc glanced up at them in the rearview mirror. "Don't look too excited, Fullmetal." His cigarette bobbed up and down in his mouth as he spoke.

"Shut up." Ed sat looking out the window with his head resting on his arm. He glanced over at Winry. It was strange seeing her without a wrench in her hand. She was staring out the car window, bright-eyed and beaming. She looked so…

She turned to him, still smiling. He quickly jerked back to his window and slumped further down in his seat.

"Come on, Ed! It'll be fun!" 

"There are better things I could be doing," Ed sighed, trying not to look away from the glass.

"You know, it could be fun, brother," Al coaxed. "You've been working really hard these past few months. It'd be good for you to take a break."

Ed shrugged. "Whatever, I guess."

The car rolled up in front of the military branch in Central. Outside, several cars were pulling up as more people arrived, chattering excitedly in gorgeous dresses and suits.

Ed got out of the car and stretched his arm up, over his head. "Fun. Fun. Fun."

Winry jumped out from behind him. "Don't be such a baby!" She started to walk briskly to the entrance, a slight spring in her step. But when she realized that Ed and Al were still far behind, she stopped and twirled around to face them, watching as they both slowly made their way from the car. She rolled her eyes and ran back to them. "Come on!" she giggled as she grabbed Ed's arm.

"What are y- hey!" Ed yelled as Winry dragged him up the front steps, unaware of the bright splash of pink across his face.

Al laughed and ran after them into the grand hall. Everywhere people were talking and laughing in stunning dresses and suits. Some would occasionally take sips from their wine glasses while others danced to the bright music that sang through the air.

As they made their way through the crowd, they recognized several familiar faces. At the far end of he room, next to the table of drinks and h'orderves, Colonel Mustang was talking with an attractive brunette in a very suave manner. Behind him stood an irritated Lieutenant Hawkeye. Not too far away, Major Armstrong towered over a large group of chattering officers (Ed, Al, and Winry were quick to duck behind another crowd before he saw them come in). They worked their way over to the other side of the hall where a number of white tables and chairs had been placed.

Ed led the way over to one of the far tables against the wall. He heaved a heavy sigh and slumped into one of the chairs, joined by Winry and Al. He watched Winry as she sat down. She didn't always look like this, did she? She turned to him with a bright smile on her face. He felt the heat spread across his face and hastily looked away, sinking further into his seat. At that moment, Al jumped to his feet.

"I-I'm going to talk to Lieutenant Havoc."

Ed, who had been sitting with his legs outstretched and resting his head on the back of his chair, looked up at his brother. "Huh? What for?"

"No reason," Al answered skittishly as he hurried back into the crowd of people, leaving Ed and Winry to exchange bewildered glances.

---

Al found Havoc sitting at the far side of the room, casually smoking his cigarette. Al approached him with his hand behind his head. "Um, can I sit with you?"

Havoc leaned back in his chair and smiled. "What, don't like the tension?"

Al dropped his hand. "Er-"

"I think I've seen that kind of situation enough times to know what's going on." Havoc shrugged and blew a puff of smoke. "Besides," he added with a big grin. "Edward's an open book."

Al laughed nervously. "Yeah, but he's really bad at things like this-"

"It doesn't surprise me." A voice interrupted, startling Al. He turned around to see Colonel Mustang grinning behind him.

"Colonel?"

Mustang spun around and walked briskly in the other direction.

"Er, wait! What are you going to do?" Al took an anxious step forward.

He watched as Mustang nonchalantly waved his hand behind him. "Leave it to me," he said as he walked out of sight.

---

Ed's nervous gaze flickered back and forth from Winry to the table. What was he supposed to do? When did he become so jumpy around her? He watched her as she glanced around the room. Her blue eyes looked like sapphires in the soft light. She fidgeted in her seat, causing her feathery bangs to fan over her forehead. Her hands were fiddling with something around her neck- a necklace that Ed hadn't noticed before. He realized with a bit of amusement, that it was simply a silver nut tied to a string.

"Where'd you get that thing?" he asked, pointing to the small metal object in her hands.

"What?" She looked down and saw what he was pointing to. "You don't remember?"

Ed looked at her, bewildered.

"Oh…" she sighed as she placed her hands in her lap. "You gave it to me when we were little," she answered shyly.

"R-really?" Ed could feel the color spread across his cheeks again. He had completely forgotten about that. 

When he was six, he'd found the nut lying in the grass while walking home from school with Al and Winry. Even back then, Winry had been talking about becoming an automail mechanic like her grandmother.

_"Mechanics need lots of these, don't they?" he asked himself. He rubbed off the dirt with his fingers and turned to Winry with his hand held out._

_"What is it?" she asked._

_"Just open your hand."_

_Winry obeyed and put out her small hand with the palm face-up. Ed dropped the metal ring into it. "For your automail."_

_Her eyes were wide with excitement. "Ooo, it's so pretty!" she giggled._

Ed turned away, his hair obscuring his rosy cheeks. "Machine junkie," he muttered with a small smile.

Ed leaned his elbow on the table and ran his fingers through his hair. Why would she have kept that little thing? Unless… no, that couldn't be it.

He glanced up at her. She'd gone back to watching the other guests out on the dance floor.

"Uh… hey, Winry…?" His voice was very quiet.

"Hmm?"

Ed scratched the back of his head. "Um… do you… I mean… that is…." He couldn't articulate it. He was furious with himself as he fumbled through a bunch of incoherent sentences.

Winry scooted closer to hear him. She leaned in and looked up at him with an inquisitive stare.

_"That's not helping!" _he thought to himself_. "Come on, just do it. What's the worse that could happen?"_

"She could hit me with a wrench," he mumbled under his breath.

"What? I can't hear you."

He took a deep breath. "Do you… do you want to dan-"

"So there you two are!"

They both jumped at the sudden outburst, Ed falling completely out of his chair.

"Mustang!" he snarled as he clambered into his seat.

The colonel gave a cool smirk. "I hope you don't mind me cutting in, but I couldn't stand to leave a beautiful young lady sitting here like this." He leaned down towards Winry. "Would you care to dance?"

"Uh…" she glanced anxiously over to Ed, muttering a string of incoherent choice phrases. "I think Ed was going to-"

"It's fine," Ed replied gruffly.

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here alo-"

"It's fine, Winry."

"Well, then let's go!" Winry didn't even have a chance to look back at Ed before Mustang rushed her onto the dance floor.

As they danced, Winry kept glancing over her shoulder, looking at the blonde-haired alchemist at the back of the room.

Mustang smirked. "You'll be waiting forever if you wait for him to make the first move."

Winry flinched and looked up at him with rosy cheeks. "No… I… he-"

"Fullmetal acts tough, but really, he's a mess when it comes to dealing with emotions," Mustang added matter-of-factly.

"You've got that right," she sighed. She took another look over her shoulder. Ed was sitting with his head lying on his arms on the table. Every so often he would glance up in her direction and mutter something. Winry sighed and shook her head. She took a step back from Mustang. "Excuse me." 

She turned around and started to walk back to the table.

"Oh, one more thing, Miss Rockbell," Colonel Mustang called after her. She stopped as he came up next to her and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and nodded, then continued walking to Ed.

---

"I don't know what I was thinking!" Ed rubbed his hand down his face. "This is ridiculous!" He dropped his hands to his sides and planted his face on the table. "What the hell am I doing here?"

"Dancing with me."

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and Ed toppled out of his chair. He looked up to see Winry standing over him with her hand reaching out to him. "W-Winry! When did you-"

"Just come on, Edward."

Ed blushed furiously as he tentatively took Winry's hand. She helped him to his feet and then knelt down to undo the straps on her shoes. 

"Winry?"

She kicked her shoes off her feet and pulled Ed onto the dance floor. Ed stood stiffly, not knowing what to do. Winry gently placed his automail hand on her waist and took his left hand in her own, before resting her other hand on his shoulder.

As they danced, she could feel the tension in his arms subsiding, but his gaze continued to flit nervously to her face and hands. She smiled sweetly and tightened her grip on his hand.

"You can relax, you know. It's just dancing."

"I'm just not very good at it."

"As long as my feet remain in tact, I don't really care," Winry giggled.

Ed gave a small grin, but then furrowed his brow when he glanced down at her feet. "Why'd you take your shoes off anyway?"

"Well, the colonel said that if I wore them… you wouldn't dance with me."

"Huh?" Ed raised his eyebrow.

"'You'll make him feel shorter than he already is.'" Winry tried to imitate Mustang's commanding voice.

Ed stiffened up and swung his head around to glare at Mustang. The colonel just gave a toothy grin and waved. Ed took a step in his direction with his fist raised, but Winry pulled him back. He was still glowering at Mustang out of the corner of his eye. 

Winry rolled her eyes and leaned in close to Ed's ear. "Thank you for letting me come tonight," she whispered.

Ed's wide-eyed gaze shot up to her, his entire face a bright crimson. "N-no problem."

She smiled and brushed some loose strands of hair behind her ear. She looked so…

"…Cute…" Ed breathed softly.

"Did you say something?"

"N-no."

Winry peered at him. "Ed…"

"Yeah?"

Winry closed her eyes and, with a sudden, quick motion, pressed her lips against his. She smiled to herself as he completely froze. "Alchemy freak," she whispered playfully.

A small grin crept across Ed's heated face. "Machine junkie."


End file.
